


Anchors Away

by Andithiel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Derogatory terms for homosexuality, HP Battleships 2019, Harry Potter Epilogue Compliant, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, M/M, Muggle Studies, Sailing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-08 02:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19862152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andithiel/pseuds/Andithiel
Summary: Scorpius and Albus take a sailing course for Muggle studies. Things... don't go as planned.





	Anchors Away

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Battleships 2019  
> Prompt: There's something that Person A is embarrassed about. Person B does something even more embarrassing to take the attention off of Person A 
> 
> (This prompt screamed Scorbus, didn't it?)
> 
> Thank you to [orpheous87](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orpheous87/pseuds/orpheous87) for the beta and britpicking, and to [Kristinabird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kristinabird/pseuds/Kristinabird) for the additional beta!
> 
> Thank you to [Farbautidottir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farbautidottir/pseuds/Farbautidottir) for the inspiration for the events in this fic, I hope I did it justice!

“Oh, come on Albus, it’s not that bad!”

“Stop trying to make me feel better,” came the grumpy reply from the deck. “Trust my sodding luck to be the clumsiest student for this sailing course.”

Scorpius bit his lip, glancing at the other ships where most of the students stood howling with laughter, pointing at their boat. Ruby Boots and Alex Oakwood stood a little further away from him and Albus, whispering frantically to each other. He sighed, turning to Albus.

“Are you going to sit there all day?”

Albus sat cross legged, hunched over with his back against the wall, chewing his fingernails. “I might. At least until those idiots stop teasing me.”

There was a roar of laughter from the nearest boat. “Anchors away, right Potter?” someone shouted, probably Parkinson, making the others collapse in fits of giggles. 

“Hey, homos! Are you too busy sucking cock to know you’re not supposed to throw the anchor in without the chain?” McLaggen’s voice rang out over the water. “Just when I thought the two of you couldn’t get more pathetic.”

“Piss off, McLaggen!” Albus bellowed.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” McLaggen answered to the apparent amusement of his teammates.

Albus groaned, scrubbing at his face. “Great, now we have Quidditch maniacs quoting Shakespeare as well?”

Scorpius frowned. “Yes? Why not? He’s one of the most famous wizards in the world, even the Muggles know about him!”

Albus dropped his hands in his lap, staring at him. “What?”

Scorpius gave him an exasperated look. Albus’ ignorance really was astounding sometimes. “Didn’t you know? How else do you think he could be so productive? Father and I have talked about it countless times, and we both agree that he obviously had a time tu—”

“Oi! Mal-poof! Are you just going to stand there?! Where’s your boyfriend, sucking your cock behind the gunwale?”

Albus flinched and sat up straighter. McLaggen and his cronies were now standing on deck, two of them kneeling before the other two, miming giving blow jobs. Yelling a few well chosen words while reaching for his wand, Albus bounced up on his feet, but Scorpius grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to stay put. 

“Oooh, there he is! Tell me, Potter, what does the Great Harry Potter think about his failure of a son?”

Albus drew in a sharp breath. That was a low blow, even coming from McLaggen. It was no secret that if there was one thing that Albus had a problem with, more than being the son of Harry Potter, it was being reminded that he was not as great as Harry Potter. Or at least the memory of what Harry Potter had done.

Scorpius slid his hand down Albus’ arm, taking his hand in his own.

“Let it go, don’t listen to them,” he said in a low voice, trying to sound reassuring. “Let them have their fun. It could’ve been much worse.”

Apparently too angry to care that Scorpius was holding his hand publicly, Albus turned to look at him, narrowing his eyes. “Oh really? How?”

“Well…,” Scorpius sighed, trying to figure out how to get Albus’ head out of his arse. “You could’ve hit the Giant Squid in the head and Merlin knows what the retribution would’ve been. I mean I’ve heard stories about people vanishing, never to be seen again until after a few years, most of them properly disturbed and not willing to tell anyone what they had to do to get free.”

The corners of Albus’ mouth twitched, despite himself. Scorpius was almost sure he had managed to turn his sullen mood, but soon he resumed his hunched over posture.

“What’s this stupid bloody lesson got to do with anything, anyway? I mean, when are we even supposed to use knowledge in how to sail? We have magic!”

Scorpius threw his head back with a groan.

“Well, the next time the teacher wants us to come up with something extra curricular for Muggle Studies perhaps you could suggest something besides sailing? Or actually paying attention when there’s a vote.”

Albus’ cheeks went pink, and he stood quietly for a while, his free hand shoved into his pocket.

“I only agreed to it because you seemed excited about it,” he muttered eventually.

“I… You did?” Scorpius looked at Albus again, who shrugged but refused to meet his gaze, opting for examining the gunwale.

“Aaaaw, look at those poofs, are they holding hands?!”

Right. Enough.

Reluctantly, Scorpius let go of Albus, and before he had time to regret it he was marching up to the ship’s wheel, turning it as hard as he could to the left. There was a scream as their ship slowly veered towards McLaggen’s boat, the wind caught in the sails and they were picking up speed.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” McLaggen screamed, his voice more high pitched than usual. “Turn around! You’re going to run into us!”

“Oops! My delicate wrists made my hands slip!” Scorpius bellowed. “And my ears are constantly filled with spunk, I haven’t heard a thing in class about how to fix this!”

He thought he heard a few gasps, not surprisingly, as most people saw him as the ever well behaved pure blood wizard and only Malfoy heir. It was only around Albus he dared show how foul his mouth could be. It was only around Albus he _wanted_ to use that foul mouth, but in an entirely different way.

Boots and Oakwood shouted at him, and he faintly heard thumps of their running feet, but that was all drowned out by McLaggen’s screams, and then there was a deafening sound as the two boats collided, the other ship shuddering with the impact.

Scorpius let go of the steering wheel, examining his work. Their own boat was firmly lodged into the side of McLaggen’s, which was starting to capsize. The students were all running around on deck, except for McLaggen, who was holding onto the mast for dear life.

“Help! Help! I’m dying! Those fucking faggots rammed our boat on purpose! Professor! Professor! I think I saw a grindylow in the water! Are there grindylows in the water?! What if they get me?! I don’t want to die because of some stupid poofs!”

Scorpius stared at McLaggen’s ashen face, streaked with tears. If he hadn’t had to endure years of taunting from him, he might feel sorry for him at this moment. As it was, the only feeling he had right now was pride. Pride that he, for once, had stood up for his friend and himself, however petty the revenge was.

“I hate that they’re always calling us faggots.” 

Scorpius hadn’t noticed Albus walking up to him during all the commotion. He shrugged. “Well, I don’t mind them calling me gay, because, well, I _am_ gay. But I don’t like them using that particular word and saying it like it’s a bad thing because… well… I’m gay. And I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of.”

Scorpius held his breath, glancing at Albus, who was worrying his lip, deep in thought. 

“Wait, you’re gay?”

Scorpius nodded, unsure of what Albus thought about that. In his most hopeful moments he had the feeling that Albus might be… But no, that was out of the question. They were friends. Best friends. Best friends who sometimes slept together, when everyone in their dorm was asleep. “I thought you knew,” he said quietly, twisting his fingers.

“I didn’t.”

Scorpius swallowed thickly. “Oh.” 

He hated how small his voice sounded. It never sounded that way around Albus. With Albus, he could be himself. He could prattle on about everything running through his head and Albus wouldn’t care, he would just sit there and listen with a smile on his face, as if Scorpius’ ramblings were something he enjoyed.

A million questions flitted through Scorpius’ mind. What did Albus think about him being gay? Would he be okay with it? Would he freak out? Could they still be friends? Could Scorpius contain his feelings until they were gone?

Suddenly, Professor Snowbell and Madam Hooch were in the air in front of them, each on a broom. Professor Snowbell’s eyes were bulging and a vein in her forehead threatened to burst at any time.

“Running your ship into your classmates, I never would have thought it of _you_ , Mr Malfoy! That’s fifty points from Slytherin, and detention for a week!”

Scorpius didn’t even had time to protest against the unfairness of it all before he felt Albus’ hand in his own.

“Professor, forgive me, but while my boyfriend’s actions were immature, he was provoked by the others. They… they were calling us names based on our sexuality.”

Scorpius tried not to show that being called Albus’ boyfriend was entirely new to him. He glanced up at Professor Snowbell, who was pink in the face and looking down.

“Did they now? Hrm, I’ll… I’ll talk to the other students. We’ll see about the points deduction, but you still have detention, Mr Malfoy.”

“Professor Snowbell! Madam Hooch! Please take us off this ship!” Boots and Oakwood shouted, jumping up and down. They each got a broom from Madam Hooch and couldn’t take off fast enough.

“You two wait here while we help the others off their boat before it sinks,” Professor Snowbell said before turning in the air and zoomed toward the other students.

As they watched them fly off, Albus let go of Scorpius’ hand and turned, sliding down the wall and sitting with his knees drawn up against his chest. Scorpius silently followed his action.

“Sorry about that whole ‘boyfriend’ thing,” Albus mumbled, “I don’t… I’m not assuming you’d want to be with me simply because you’re gay too, I just thought it would make more of an impact if I told them we were…”

“What, _you’re_ gay too?”

Scorpius had had his suspicions, sure, but he had always thought it was wishful thinking on his side. Because if Albus was gay as well, that meant that Scorpius might have a chance. But he was too afraid to let that thought settle in, too afraid to have his hopes crushed.

Albus shrugged. “I think so. I’m not sure actually, I’ve only ever been in love with one person and he… I wouldn’t risk our friendship for anything in the world. I hope you know— I mean I hope _he_ knows that.”

Scorpius ears suddenly felt very hot, and there was a buzzing sound in his head. Albus had never told him about some other boy he was friends with. He couldn’t help but feel jealous of this mystery person.

“Well, the only way to find out if he feels the same way is to ask him, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Albus sighed, “it’s just… I’m afraid that I’ll scare him away.”

Scorpius scratched his ear, thinking, not knowing how much he could risk saying without sounding like the pining idiot he was. “Trust me, Albus, if this boy has any brains at all, he will be honoured to be with you, I mean, you’re quite the catch.” That was supportive enough without giving too much away, wasn’t it?

“Well, he’s really bright. And funny. And… just adorable.”

Scorpius tried not to be jealous, but it was hard listening to Albus go on and on about some other person he was in love with.

“He sounds like a real catch himself,” he mumbled.

“Yeah. Yeah he is.”

Suddenly Albus was leaning in, so so close, his breath tickling Scorpius’ ear.

“It’s just that, no matter how smart he is, sometimes he can be really daft.”

Scorpius turned his head, making his nose bump into Albus’. “Oh?”

Albus nodded. 

“But that’s okay. I guess I can be pretty daft myself. I mean, occasionally he will climb into my bed and I love when he does that, but I’ve been unsure what it means. But,” he chuckled “I just witnessed him run our ship into another ship. On purpose. Because I was a complete bellend and threw the anchor in without it being tied to anything. And I was really embarrassed about that. But he saw that and he did that. For me. If that doesn’t say ‘I love you’ I don’t know _what_ does.”

Scorpius started laughing, but then Albus was angling his head so his lips brushed against Scorpius’ and he fell silent, opening his mouth to let Albus kiss him. He felt dizzy, unsure if this was a good idea after all, this would change everything between them, what if he changed his mind? What if he’d only _thought_ he was in love with Albus? What if _Albus_ changed his mind? But when Albus dragged his tongue against his lips he forgot all that and willingly opened his mouth to meet him.

Yes, he thought as Albus' tongue slid against his own. This was a brilliant idea. Best idea ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are lovely <3
> 
> I'm also [on tumblr](https://andithiel.tumblr.com//)! Come say hi!


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